NYMEX-Crude edges down, but choppy after jobs data

* U.S. loses jobs in January, but unemployment rate falls

* Unseasonably cold temperatures in Northeast next week

NEW YORK, Feb 5 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures edged lower
in very choppy trading on Friday after report showing U.S.
employers cut jobs in January, but the unemployment rate
surprisingly fell.

"The jobless data is neutral at best for energy prices.
There continues to be job losses, and that will continue to
translate into anemic gasoline demand," said John Kilduff,
Partner at Round Earth Capital in New York.

Wall Street was little changed after opening higher. [.N]

U.S. employers unexpectedly cut 20,000 jobs in January, but
the unemployment rate surprisingly fell to a five-month low of
9.7 percent, according to a government report. [ID:nN04115255]

The mixed U.S. jobs report kept up pressure on already
sharply lower global equities markets. [MKTS/GLOB]

The dollar pared its rise against the euro and a basket of
currencies after the jobs report, helping support crude.

But the euro fell to its lowest level against the dollar
since May as the cost of insuring the debt of some euro zone
nations against default hit record highs. [USD/]

U.S. crude oil futures ended down 5 percent on Thursday,
posting the steepest one-day percentage loss since July, on the
stronger dollar and concerns about Europe's economy and global
oil demand in a sluggish economic recovery.

PRICES

* On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:50 a.m. EST
(1450 GMT), March crude CLH0 was down 5 cents, or 0.05
percent, at $73.09 a barrel, trading from $72.46 to $73.94.

* In London, March Brent crude LCOH0 fell 50 cents, or
0.69 percent, to $71.63 a barrel, trading from $71.25 to
$72.52.

* NYMEX March RBOB RBH0 fell 1.70 cents, or 0.87 percent,
to $1.9338 a gallon, trading from $1.9264 to $1.9595.

* NYMEX March heating oil HOH0 fell 1.60 cents, or 0.83
percent, to $1.9192 a gallon, trading from $1.9080 to $1.9450.

* The March/March heating oil crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> was
at $7.61, after ending at $8.14 on Thursday. The March/March
RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> was at $8.24, after ending at
$8.79 on Thursday.

* The spread between the current front month and the
five-year forward crude contract CLc61 was at $13.78, based
on the March 2015 contract Thursday settlement at $86.87. The
spread ended Thursday at $13.73.

TECHNICALS

NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $74.48/$76.76

Technical support/resistance:

NYMEX crude: $73.00/$78.00

NYMEX heating oil: $1.93/$2.00

NYMEX RBOB: $1.95/$2.00

For a full report on technicals, click on [ID:nLDE61417Y]

MARKET NEWS

* A blizzard will hit the mid-Atlantic states this weekend.
Unseasonably cold weather will settle over the Midwest and
Northeast next week, according to forecasters. [nN1954]

* BlueGold Capital, a hedge fund managing $1.5 billion,
said it was not responsible for recent crude price falls after
market talk it had sold long positions helped send oil down 5
percent on Thursday. [ID:nLDE614159]
(Reporting by Robert Gibbons; Editing by Walter Bagley)